The Andhra Cricket Association (ACA) has promised a neutral pitch for Visakhapatnams Test debut a day after K Sriram, the BCCI curator who has been overseeing the pitch preparation at the venue, was quoted by PTI as saying it would turn from lunch on the second day. Srirams comments came a day after Virat Kohli had expressed displeasure at the amount of grass on the pitch for the first Test in Rajkot, which ended with India having to fight out a draw.G Gangaraju, the ACA secretary, said there was no request from the Indian team management for a rank turner. They didnt ask for anything, he told ESPNcricinfo. We [also] dont entertain anything like that. Its a neutral pitch for both the teams. Both the teams have seen the pitch, and they are very happy. Both the curators - the board curator Mr K Sriram and our ACA curator Mr K Nagamallaiah - have done a very good job. Ashish Bhowmick, the BCCI curator from the East Zone, is also at the venue to oversee preparations.India coach Anil Kumble, though, said at a press conference before the teams training session that he hadnt seen the pitch yet. Whatever pitch we get, we will make our strategy around it and select a team accordingly, he said. We play to take 20 wickets and win the match.The pitch in Visakhapatnam has been under scrutiny lately after 17 wickets fell on the third day of a Ranji Trophy game between Assam and Rajasthan last month. After Assam were bowled out for 69 inside 21 overs, their coach Sunil Joshi took to Twitter to slam the unpredictable pitch. Gangaraju, though, played down the controversy, and said the pitch to be used for the Test was different to the ones that staged the Ranji Trophy game, and the fifth ODI between India and New Zealand, where the visitors slumped to 79 all out chasing 270. The pitch used for the ODI was slow, batsmen struggled to time their strokes, and there was appreciable turn for the spinners, with Amit Mishra picking up 5 for 18 in six overs.An ACA official, who is closely involved in the preparation of the pitch, said the bounce was likely to remain consistent throughout the Test.The pitch has very less grass. It wont be to the same extent as in Rajkot, where there was not much turn even on the fourth day, he said. There was some uneven bounce on the fourth [third] day of the Assam-Rajasthan game, but here I think the bounce will remain consistent all the way. It is something we have worked a lot on.He said conditions in Visakhapatnam wouldnt allow for the ball to turn right from the first day as had been the case in some of the Tests against South Africa last year, but would remain good for batting for the most part.The pitch is a mixture of 50% black soil and 50% clay, the official said. 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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- After watching their athletes pile up medals in Brazil, leaders of the U.S. Olympic team came home and produced results that could resonate every bit as loudly.Among the U.S. Olympic Committees achievements over the past 10 days were the re-embracing of black sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos -- two of the most iconic figures in Olympic history -- the righting of a racially tinged omission dating back 80 years and the decision to take an unflinching look at where Americas Olympic teams stand in their mission to become more diverse.The USOC has used the weeks following the 2016 Games to remind both itself and the world that the Olympic movement was created to bring people of different nations, colors and creeds together -- and not to simply put on a lavish sports festival every two years.Football does it, basketball does it -- they pay homage to all the athletes that came before the people who are famous now, American sprinter Justin Gatlin said. So to be able to do that for our athletes, its an important step in the right direction.Smith and Carlos, whose raised fists on the medals stand sent a strong message about race and, in turn, got them kicked out of the Mexico City Olympics, were present for the USOCs history making trip to the White House last week -- marking what they called the first official USOC event theyd been a part of since their ouster in 1968.That White House trip also included relatives of Americas black 1936 Olympians -- a group that included Jesse Owens but that was never afforded that recognition upon their return from Berlin.And before the DC trip, the USOC unveiled its public scorecards for diversity hiring in a frank, and public, assessment of the Olympic teams shortcomings in that area.Plans for all these initiatives were hatched months ago -- long before Colin Kaepernicks national anthem protests helped vault the issue of racial inequality and police violence into the mainstream of sports.Were not just doing it because its the right thing to do, even though it is, said the USOCs CEO, Scott Blackmun, in speaking about the diversity scorecards. We need to improve our cultural competency. We need to harness the idea of a diverse talent pool because its effective, not just because its fair.ddddddddddddIn short, Blackmun would like to see the talent pool in administrative offices better reflect the talent pool on the field.Carlos, who joined Smith in what remains as one of the most powerful signs of protest in sports history, called his official return to the USOC family a rebirth.To evolve into one of the pillars of the sport and not be within the realm of the sport, its a sensational feeling to come back, Carlos said. I think itll be (good) for young kids to see Dr. Smith and myself, to hear our story and to encourage them to do the right thing relative to sports: Be clean, cherish your sport and spread your sport throughout society.Though those ideals have long been embedded in the Olympic charter, they have often been obscured by the cascade of spiraling costs, corruption, doping scandals and hosting problems that have dominated the recent era of the games.The USOC story line, meanwhile, often veered between its long quest to bring the Olympics back to the U.S. (The Summer Games havent been in America since 1996) and a revolving door of management and governance styles that, after long last, have found stable footing.Even so, a big chunk of Blackmuns own report card will be based on whether the USOC can help bring the 2024 Olympics to Los Angeles.But regardless of the bid, Blackmun has approached his leadership role with the awareness that the USOC has missions that go beyond winning medals and hosting the Olympics.The invitation of the relatives of the 1936 Olympians was especially poignant given they had a chance to shake hands with the nations first black president, Barack Obama.There were 18 black members of that team, including Owens, whose four-gold-medal performance in Nazi Germany, as Obama put it Thursday, Put a lie to notions of racial superiority -- whooped `em and taught them a thing or two about democracy and taught them a thing or two about the American character.---AP Sports Writers Pat Graham and Stephen Whyno contributed to this report. 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